PORGY & BESS to Drop 'New Final Scene' on Broadway

Back in August, a controversy arose from a New York Yimes article that explained director Diane Paulus' new vision for the ART production, and soon to be Broadway transfer, of THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS. Specifically in reponse to Paulus' new 'final scene,' which gave the musical a more upbeat ending, theatre legend Stephen Sondheim wrote a memorable letter to the NYT about his thoughts on the re-interpretation.

Now, according to the NYT, the final scene will not be a part of the Broadway production. Paulus commented: "We were learning about the work as we were living it, experimenting with different scenes and endings, and by the culmination of our journey with Porgy and Bess - the show and those characters - we found its strongest version. It had nothing to do with Mr.-Whomever-we-are-not-talking-about, or the producers or the estates."

THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS begins previews on Saturday, December 17th, 2011 and opens on Thursday, January 12th, 2012 at The Richard Rodgers Theatre (226 West 46th Street, between 8th and Broadway).

The creative team also includes choreographer Ronald K. Brown, set design is by Riccardo Hernandez (Il Postino at LA Opera, Washington Opera, and Le Chatelet, Paris; numerous productions at A.R.T.), costume design by Project Runway finalist ESosa, lighting design by Christopher Akerlind (Tony Award for The Light in the Piazza; The Seagull, Britannicus and others at A.R.T.), sound by ACME Sound Partners, and casting by Telsey + Company. Orchestration is by William David Brohn and Christopher Jahnke, the Music Supervisor is David Loud, and the conductor is Sheilah Walker.

The Broadway production will star Audra McDonald as Bess, Norm Lewis as Porgy and David Alan Grier as Sportin' Life, reprising their A.R.T. roles. The show will run at A.R.T. August 17th through October 2nd.

THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS is based on DuBose Heyward's novel "Porgy" and the play of the same name, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward. All three works deal with African American life in the fictitious Catfish Row (based on the real-life Rainbow Row) in Charleston, South Carolina, in the early 1920s. George Gershwin worked on Porgy and Bess in Charleston, SC and drew inspiration from the James Island Gullah community, which he felt had preserved some African musical traditions. The music itself reflects his New York jazz roots, but also draws on southern black traditions. Gershwin modeled the pieces after each type of folk song which the composer knew about; jubilees, blues, praying songs, street cries, work songs, and spirituals are blended with traditional arias and recitatives. This new adaptation of the show has been specifically created for Broadway and will feature a revised book in a musical theatre format and jazz-oriented musical arrangements.

THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS first premiered at the Colonial Theatre in Boston on September 30, 1935. Broadway performances followed featuring a cast of classically trained African-American singers - a daring and visionary artistic choice at the time.

Photo Credit: Michael J. Lutch